Do you use up calories burned during exercise?

[gemini76]

Hi,

Day 1 of the 12 week plan today and so far so good. I have logged my calories on my fitness pal but I have a question. If I exercise and burn 300 calories, when logging in the exercise on MFP it adds the calories back onto my daily allowance. Do you then use up that allowance? Or not?

Feeling confused!

Any help/advice appreciated.

Nicky

[Hidden]

I think you will find most people try not to eat them, as it guarantees a better weight loss. It's nice to know that if you fancy a treat however, you can "afford" it if you have "banked" a few days of extra calories through exercise.

[kalahuchi]

Personally I go by the NHS BMI calculator which gives a calorie range depending on your activity levels, and I tend to stick to the lower end of the range unless I'm going out somewhere special when I go for the top end. Never used a fitbit or similar and I find the NHS BMI calculator really simple which appeals to my lazy ways when it comes to technology; I would rather spend an extra half an hour walking than getting frustrated with my phone! Perhaps you could give it a try and compare it with your fitbit. x

[Hidden]

hi gemini76 i agree with Tubby teacher, the idea of it all is to give yourself a boost and lose more weight. However, it is also a brilliant tool for a night out for instance, a couple days of excercise will "pay" for that special treat. So, either way is good x

[Hidden]

I use MFP too and I'm only set to lose 1/2lb per week, so I don't always eat all my exercise calories and I tend to lose a lb most weeks. That said, when I feel ambitious and set myself to a lb loss, I do eat all or most of my exercise calories, as I don't want to drop below my BMR. I exercise a decent amount and some days burn up to 800-900 calories, which would put my net calories at 500-600 which is far too low for me and counterproductive to my training schedule.

[gemini76]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've used the nhs bmi calculator and my daily calorie range should be between 1200 & 1400 so I'm not keen on dropping below the 1200 as this may be counterproductive to my weight loss as I'll be starving! Will have to play around and see how it works out. Thanks!

Nicky

[Windswept1]

No. But on serious exercise days I eat more.